Only superlatives can possibly describe the Hacienda San Ángel (Miramar 336, tel. 322/222-2692 or 322/221-2277, U.S. tel. 415/738-8220, fax 322/223-1941, www.haciendasanangel.com), life project of personable owner-manager Janice Chatterton. She invites her guests to enjoy her Hacienda, once the house of celebrated actor Richard Burton, as their home away from home in Puerto Vallarta. Beginning in the early 1990s, Janice bought the three adjacent houses, which, with consummate design and decorative skill, she integrated into her present grand mansion.

Janice has spared little to adorn her abode with a heavenly choir of cherubs, saints, adored Madonnas, and a veritable museum of handsome old-world antique furnishings. She and her four-dog family invite visitors to enjoy any one of 14 uniquely designed and decorated suites ($250–480 d low season, $325–700 d high), many with airy town and ocean vistas. She also offers a cluster of four of her rooms as Villa La Luna, for a group of up to 10 people, for $1,700 low season, $2,130 high. All accommodations come with fans, air-conditioning, cable TV, DVD player, phone, continental breakfast, wireless in-house Internet, and a load of luxurious extras, including a full-service gourmet restaurant and two lovely heated pools. Sorry, no children under 16. (You may also reserve at Hacienda San Ángel through Mexico Boutique Hotels, toll-free Mex. tel. 01-800/508-7923, U.S./Can. tel. 800/728-9098, www.mexicoboutiquehotels.com.)